20071021

No one will own cars

The future is based on economics, things aren't popular until they're cheap. We could do almost everything we do on the internet without computers, just phoning up humans who would read, search, and write information, but it would be too expensive.

Things are invented, and then automated. The pump, water/power distribution, information storage and retrieval, today audio/visual entertainment is usually played back via a machine. RFID will allow supermarket shopping to remove that last human part, the checkout.Eventually cars will drive themselves. Therefore the cost of using a taxi will drop to approximately the same price per mile as having your own car. As you're not using your car most of the day it will be inefficient to own a car.

Once everyone uses public transport the system will become much more efficient, when you book your journey the system will find other people taking a similar journey, and bundle them together, 4 people will share the taxi, bring costs down even more, if 10 people are taking the trip a minibus will be used, 50, a coach or bus. If longer journeys are required, or more people are travelling the smaller vehicles will travel to the train station, or airport. Journeys can be timed to the minute when there's predictable traffic flows, and if you're rich you can travel alone and pay for the pollution you're creating to be removed.